Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

If I have encouraged another soul on the path, then I am glad.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Thank you. It's nice to know these pieces get read.

I'm not qualified to speak on Murakami Haruki, but I think that someone who definitely could be described as the Kafka of Japan is Abe Kobo.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

QC: Surely you mean 'flattering' rather than 'nice'?

Cakes are nice, as are maiden aunts, and unadventurous flower beds, and people who acknowledge your presence in the supermarket queue by remembering to put a plastic barrier (what are those things called?) at the end of their purchases so as to segregate your shopping from theirs.

I know little* about the writers of which you speak, but would Anais Nin be a valid comparison? I remember casting aside my "list of recommended reading" in my mid teens to concentrate on William Burroughs, Kathy Acker and Iain Banks etc, and it is Nin's work - in terms of style - which has resonated most persistently (along with Burrough's genius for brutal changes of pace and narration).

To quote Larkin:

"They #### you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
They fill you with the faults they had
And add some extra, just for you."

But Nin was like the dreamy broad-minded aunt I never had; she lived in a row barge moored in a sleepy quarter of Amsterdam; and I would sneak off there to squander balmy afternoons smoking hashish and North African cigarettes as we listened to the gentle breeze of chitter-chatter that fluted along the canal path.

A plot, a plot; my Kingdom for a plot.......

Yet they #### you up, your plot, and fads. They don't mean to, but they do, the dastardly cads. You've read too much Lovecraft, Machen, M R James; so all you can do is make up names.

Atmosphere doesn't rely on technical gobbledegook. It just is (or very often, isn't.)

JK
* Fanny Adams

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Hello.

I'm afraid, despite having a lovely edition of Delta of Venus and/or Incest for quite some time (it was the latter if it was 'or'), I never got round to reading them. I don't know where the volume/s are now, but I do hope to read her some day.

I do have a weakness for the word 'nice'; you're not the first to take me to task for this.

Abe Kobo is, I think, very much like Kafka.

The other writers I've mentioned here - Kafu, Tanizaki, Mishima, are not. Kafu, actually, was the first, chronologically, of these strangely linked three. He was very much a person of the demi-monde. Tanizaki worshipped Kafu, and wrote a great, great essay about one of his novels, that goes all over the place. Tanizaki, I think, was Kafu with a more direct, commercial sensibility, amongst other things. Early on, Tanizaki was influenced by Poe, though you wouldn't necessarily know it. Tanizaki's obsessions, unlike Poe's, are quite explicitly sexual. Only Tanizaki could write a story about someone sexually aroused by severed heads that have had their noses cut off.

Mishima must have got quite a lot from Tanizaki, but was also very influenced by Western literature. I believe his favourite writer was Thomas Mann. He wrote a play called Madame DeSade, about the wife of the Marquis, which is, I believe, currently being staged in London with Dame Judi Dench, amongst others, in the cast.

However, if we do trace a tenuous lineage from Kafu to Mishima, then it must be noted that Kafu was unashamedly decadent and anti-militarist. Mishima, though decadent in many ways, had something of a uniform fetish.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

This thread has gone quite off topic. I think discussions about American vs.British writers and Japanese literature are both interesting and enlightening, but not very much on topic. Possibly they should have their own threads? I would especially like to know more about the Japanese writers, Quentin can recommend.

On topic, Jean Ray arrived some days ago in Copenhagen. It's a dreadful waste that my exams (one of them about Shiel's The Purple Cloud as representation of a catastrophe (just to be off topic again) are taking time away from reading.

I read the introduction, which shed some light on Ray, though it could have been written more elegantly some places. I would also, though this is not really a flaw in the introduction, but more my interests shining through, have known more about how Ray reconciled whatever artistic drive he had with possible pretentions about art and the like. He seems very much like a pen for hire. Did he have any pretentions about making art? Did he have a poetics? Probably not.

The one story I've read was "The Night at Camberwell". Immensely well crafted in 3-4 pages. Brilliant mechanics. I'm looking forward to reading more.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Yes, I think you're right. I'll have to start a thread somewhere.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Jean Ray arived today - sent from Romania. I thought "Who do I know from Romania? The son of the Unabomber?" I took a chance and the package didn't explode. It was well-wrapped - like suburban housewife trying to spice up her lovelife. Must dive into it soon.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Just so I might beat Mads to the punch, I should note that Ex Occidente has made available two new books on its website for preorder.

For those coming in late: Ex Occidente Press

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

Another thing at which I'm a failure...;)

Anyway, both the Christopher Barker and the Mark Valentine collections seems to have very beautiful covers.

Especially the Valentine collection sounds promising.

I haven't read anything by Barker yet.

Re: Ex Occidente Press
 

I concur. That press shows some of the most beautiful cover pieces I have seen in recent years. I would allso be very interested in reading The Man Who Collected Machen should I come across it. Mark Samuels work sounds very interesting...

I belive he has a short story on his website: Christopher Barker Bibliography